author
George William Russell
1867–1935
A central figure in the Irish Literary Revival, this writer published under the striking pen name Æ and moved easily between poetry, painting, criticism, and public life. His work blends visionary mysticism with a deep interest in Ireland’s cultural and rural future.
7 Audiobooks
The Nuts of Knowledge: Lyrical Poems Old and New
by George William Russell
By Still Waters: Lyrical Poems Old and New
by George William Russell
Imaginations and Reveries
by George William Russell
AE in the Irish Theosophist
by George William Russell
The National Being: Some Thoughts on an Irish Polity
by George William Russell
The Hero in Man
by George William Russell
The Divine Vision, and Other Poems
by George William Russell
About the author
Born in Lurgan, County Armagh, on April 10, 1867, George William Russell became best known by the pen name Æ, also written AE or A.E. He grew up in Dublin and emerged as one of the important voices of the Irish Literary Revival, building a reputation not only as a poet but also as an essayist, editor, critic, and painter.
Russell’s writing is often remembered for its dreamlike, spiritual quality. Britannica describes him as a leading figure in the Irish literary renaissance, and accounts of his life also show how active he was beyond literature: he worked with the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society and edited The Irish Homestead, linking literary culture with practical concerns about rural life and cooperation in Ireland.
He died in Bournemouth, England, on July 17, 1935. What makes him especially interesting is the range of his life’s work—he was at once a mystical poet, a public thinker, an artist, and a supporter of Irish cultural life, which gives his books an unusually rich background.